The Huxley Summit is a high profile thought leadership event run by the British Science Association. It is named after ‘Darwin’s bulldog’, self-taught scientist Thomas Huxley who argued for Darwin’s theory of evolution against the Bishop of Oxford, Samuel Wilberforce, at the British Science Association’s (BSA) annual meeting in 1860. This was a pivotal moment in the public’s understanding of and opinion on evolution, and the Summit aims to provide a platform to debate key scientific and social challenges facing the UK in the 21st century.

Shifting perceptions?

The challenges and opportunities of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

The Huxley Summit 2018 will bring together business leaders, scientists, policy-makers and opinion-formers on Wednesday 28 November 2018 at the Royal Institution.

Scientific and technological advances are continuing to merge the physical, digital and biological worlds – disrupting the status quo and changing perceptions of the creators, owners and users. New technologies are promising to change the world for the better, but how can businesses, policy-makers and scientists ensure products of innovation are fit for purpose as societal, environmental and cultural expectations change and shift?

2018 has seen the shift in public perceptions in the UK about the impact of single use plastics on the environment. New technologies, such as AI and gene-editing, have the power to change the relationship between citizens, businesses and countries. How can leaders in boardrooms and government consider changing perceptions in different technical and cultural spheres to create responsible innovations?

How does society overcome the challenges of the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ and a potential breakdown of trust in technology from the public?

The full programme for the Huxley Summit 2018 is below. Further information about previous Summits can be found on the 2016 and 2017 pages.

11.00Registration and networking

Since the 1950s, plastic has been seen as a wonder material offering solutions to many problems. However, the recent public and media reaction to single use plastics following Blue Planet 2 has raised many questions for businesses, policy-makers and scientists. How do businesses create confidence and trust from consumers in products that could impact society and the environment? How do institutions manage this risk and learn from the past?

Part A: Short-term challenges vs. long-term risksHow can leaders in boardrooms and government consider changing perceptions in different technical and cultural spheres to create responsible innovations? This panel will discuss how boards can balance long-term risks and impacts with short-term challenges.

Artificial intelligence is heralded by technologists, business leaders, and policy-makers as a wonder technology that could have the ability to solve big 21st century global problems such as health, climate change, and inequality. As a term popularised through science fiction that has now become part of everyday life, how can we build trust in autonomous systems to make better decisions than people and challenge Hollywood stereotypes of Terminator style AI? How do regulators create an environment which both protects the consumer and is pro-innovation? How do businesses create products which won’t create a public backlash – either now or in the future? What is the role of the traditional and social media in facilitating public acceptance of new technologies?

16.20Coffee and networking

Genome editing has the potential to alter any DNA sequence, whether in a bacterium, plant, animal or human being, it has an almost limitless range of possible applications in living things and could change what our current perceptions of ‘normal’.

The technology has many socio-political, legal, and ethical implications. Regulators and businesses across the world are taking different approaches to gene editing technologies depending on their country’s cultural and historical contexts. How will this influence the approach taken by the UK?